The President, John Dramani Mahama has reaffirmed government’s commitment to support the Public Interest and Accountability Committee (PIAC) to play its oversight role in the petroleum revenue management space.
He reiterated the importance of the Committee’s role in ensuring the prudent management and use of the country’s petroleum revenues for impact and benefit of all citizens, hence the need to be supported to function effectively.
President Mahama gave this assurance when a PIAC Team paid a courtesy call on the Presidency on Friday, 11th July, 2025.
The Committee’s operations had been adversely impacted by the removal of PIAC’s funding from the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA), following the amendment of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (PRMA), 2011, Act 815 in April 2025. Per the amendment, the PRMA (Amended), 2025 (Act 1138), the use of the ABFA will be used for infrastructure development under the “Big Push” initiative by government, as well as an allocation to the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) for the purpose of infrastructure development.
While acknowledging the impact of the removal of PIAC’s funding from the ABFA on its operations, President Mahama said the Committee’s role as an oversight body for the country’s petroleum revenues was critical, hence his pledge to ensure that the committee is well-resourced.
Courtesy Call
The PIAC Team comprising Members and Secretariat Staff led by its Chair, Constantine K.M. Kudzedzi, Esq., paid a courtesy call on the President to discuss issues related to the management and use of Ghana’s petroleum revenues in Ghana and to also discuss the workings of PIAC.
The Team was received by the President. Also in attendance was Ms Joyce Bawah Mogtari, Personal Aide and Adviser to the President, Nana Oye Bampoe Addo, Deputy Chief of Staff in charge of Administration, and Ms Marietta Agyeiwaa Brew, Legal Counsel to the President.
Big Push for infrastructure
President Mahama mentioned the current infrastructure deficit of US$1.5billion, which has necessitated the introduction of the Big Push agenda to deal with this deficit. Under the initiative, US$2billion will be channeled to infrastructure development every year over the next five (5) years. This is geared towards channeling resources into tangibles to show impact.
PIAC and petroleum revenue management
The Chair of PIAC, Constantine K.M. Kudzedzi, Esq expressed gratitude to the President for giving the Committee an opportunity to engage and to bring some key issues to his attention.
He said as the citizen oversight body mandated by law to monitor and evaluate the management and use of petroleum revenues, PIAC has a three-fold mandate that it had carried out since its establishment in 2011.
The PIAC Chair further explained that a recent amendment has removed the funding of PIAC from the ABFA, which has stalled all planned programmes and activities. He proposed that subsequent amendments should be holistic and based on consultations as PIAC was not in the known of the amendment that led to the removal of the Committee’s funding from the ABFA.
On the use of petroleum revenues for projects, Kudzedzi Esq., said based on feedback from PIAC’s outreach programmes, there is the need to label oil funded projects so citizens can feel and see the impact of the use of petroleum revenues.
Still on project implementation, he proposed the involvement of District Assemblies in the selection and implementation of projects that are earmarked for proper supervision and oversight.
The PIAC Chair expressed gratitude to the president for giving the Committee audience.
SOURCE: PIAC COMMUNICATIONS